


Rough and Tumble

by asongofhopeandjoy



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Engagement, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Friendship, Gambling, Humor, Minor Aang/Toph Beifong, Post-War, Wedding Fluff, Weddings, Wrestling, Zutara Week, Zutara Week 2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25574308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asongofhopeandjoy/pseuds/asongofhopeandjoy
Summary: “Excuse me your Highness, but are these four your… children?”Zuko and Katara try to discretely announce their engagement to their found family. It does not go well.Alternative Title: Fives Times Zuko or Katara Had A Short Fuse, And One Time They Didn't. For Zutara Week 2020, Prompt: Fuse.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 74





	Rough and Tumble

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a very short drabble series that has now turned into a six-chapter story (because I love Zutara that much).
> 
> I won't be able to post the rest during Zutara Week, but hopefully you'll enjoy the first chapter! Please let me know what you think in the comments below.

“Ready?” Zuko asked as he took Katara’s hand. She took one deep breath and smiled at him. 

“Yes.” 

She was so excited to tell her brother and her friends the good news. She and Zuko hadn’t told the others why they had wanted to come to this restaurant, where it was not so busy that they would be swarmed by people who would want to meet ‘the saviours of the world’, but not so desolate that you could hear a pin drop. It was the perfect location for sharing secrets. 

The only person Katara and Zuko had told about their plans was Uncle Iroh, who burst into tears and squished them both into a platypus bear hug. Katara knew she’d hold the memory of Uncle telling Zuko that he was proud of him and wished him a lifetime of happiness would stay in her heart forever, so she wanted this memory to be just as special. 

“Remember to keep your voice down.” Katara warned Zuko. “It’s okay to tell these guys, but I want to be the first person to tell Gran Gran and Dad the moment they dock into First Lord’s Harbor.” 

“Of course!” Zuko said. “I won’t announce our engagement to the court until we’ve discussed it with them.” 

“Discussed it with them?” Katara snorted. It sounded like he was going to ask for her hand in marriage. She could picture Zuko’s dramatic self getting down on one knee and asking: ‘May I have your daughter’s hand?’ Then he would try to recite poetry about how much he loved her once he started cracking under the pressure, while Gran Gran and Hakoda sympathised with his awkwardness. 

“I know you don’t need your parents permission Katara, but it would be nice to address any concerns they might have before we go public.” Zuko said. Aww, Katara’s future husband was so considerate! 

Katara grabbed him from behind his waist and kissed his cheek. Zuko blushed as Katara nuzzled the back of his neck. “Gran Gran and dad  _ love you _ . I’m sure they’re going to be as happy about the marriage as I am.” 

Katara wasn’t dense. She could tell Zuko was a bit nervous about whether Gran Gran and her dad would ‘approve’ because he was used to being rejected by his family. He didn’t need to be though, Katara was excited to tell Gran Gran and Hakoda because they’d all get to experience another milestone together as a family. 

“Good, because I’m over the moon about it too.” Zuko stole a quick kiss before looking into Katara’s blue eyes as if they were an ocean he wanted to drown in. They would have forgotten all about their friends if one waiter had not interrupted:    
  
“Excuse me your Highness, but are these four your… children?” the snooty waiter gestured towards the rowdy foursome at table number eight. Katara smacked her forehead, wanting to die on the spot, while her fiance broke out into a cold sweat at the sight of their friends up to their old nonsense. 

“Come on Twinkle Toes, I didn’t train you to be a weakling!” Toph barked right into Aang’s face, spit shooting into his eyeballs as she gripped the Avatar’s first in her hand with ease. Lower and lower, she was pushing his hand closer to the table. 

“Come on Aang, you’re not going to take that from Toph, are ya?” Sokka shouted into Aang’s ear and slapped the airbender on the back as a form of encouragement, getting way too excited on his friend’s behalf. Katara could feel her friend’s pain from across the room. 

“Heck yes he is, come on Toph, CRUSH the Avatar! Don’t you want those bragging rights?” Suki cried, using her fans in an elaborative little dance to cheer Toph on. “People will be buying you drinks just to hear the story!” 

“Don’t! Speak! So soon!” Aang grunted - veins in his forehead pulsing, his face red and his eyeballs close to popping out all over the table. His white teeth were clenched so hard that he looked like a very unhappy rabaroo. 

Katara and Zuko were in sync as they looked at each other and silently agreed on their next course of action. Aang needed some serious rescuing and now seemed like a good time to break up this rambunctious group of ‘children’ who were starting to draw everyone’s attention. 

“Hello, Zuko here.” Zuko greeted them over Aang’s pained groaning. “Katara and I have an announcement to make.” 

“Just one minute Zuko - I’m so close to winning!” Aang squeaked. Toph squeezed his hand again and pushed it even closer to the table. She could have won the match right then and there, but she enjoyed toying with Aang like a cat who enjoyed teasing their prey before they gobbled them up. “So! Close!” 

“That’s great Aang, but can your little competition wait until Zuko and I announce our big news?” Katara asked, putting on her mum-friend voice. That always worked when she wanted to get the others to obey her! 

“Heck no, I’ve been wanting to challenge Twinkle Toes to a fight since we got here and this is the only kind of competition he would agree to!” Toph said without even breaking a sweat. 

“I promise this news is way better than winning a sparring match against Aang.” Zuko smiled at Katara, temporarily gaining Toph and Suki’s attention before Sokka blurted out: 

“As good as winning a bag of gold if Aang wins?” Sokka smugly popped his collar in only the way a man who was certain of an easy win could pull off.

“WHAT?” Suki pointed her fans at Sokka in fury. “You bet money on this stupid rivalry?” 

“Hey! My rivalry with Twinkle Toes is not stupid!” Toph said and Katara could see her point. It was sweet how Toph used it as an excuse to see Aang when he had been very busy with Avatar duties. Sure, she tortured him whenever she roped Aang into her crazy competitions, but it was just like a cat and mouse being friends! “It’s serious!” 

“Yes!” Aang squealed. “I completely agree Toph!” 

“I’m sorry then, it’s not about the rivalry, it’s about my silly husband wasting money!” Suki snapped. “Sokka, we’re supposed to be saving up for Hinata’s education!” 

“And this is all in aid of that honey!” Sokka put up his hands defensively. “Look at Aang’s biceps! They’re the talk of the town!” 

“They’re not going to be the only thing that will be the talk of the town.” Katara interrupted, crossing her arms and her fiance imitated her. “Zuko and I invited you here for a reason!” 

“And I bet on Aang for a good reason!” Sokka wouldn’t budge. It made Katara’s blood boil. How could her own brother dismiss her like that? “Toph is pretty ripped, but Aang is just waiting to catch up to her!” 

“And that’s a reason to throw away money?” Suki arched a delicate eyebrow in a way that started making Sokka nervously pull on his collar. 

“Hey!” Aang shouted. “Don’t put me down just because you’re mad at your husband!” 

Katara’s started grinding her teeth, the crunch of them alerting her fiance that she was ready to pounce. Zuko put a hand on her shoulder, letting her know she wasn’t alone in her frustration. 

“That’s why I want to change the subject to something nice!” Katara tried one more time to get their attention. She would give them one more chance to not be a pack of bleeding hog monkeys! “Instead of fighting with each other in a very, very crowded place where people are looking at us like we’re weirdos!” 

“Let them look!” Toph beamed. “I want everyone to see me defeat Twinkle Toes in a fair fight.” 

“And I look forward to besting you in front of all these people Toph!” Aang looked like he was crying now. From pain and exhaustion or the fact that he was touched by Toph’s strange way of showing affection, it was very difficult to tell. 

“Well you had better win Aang because I’m not sending Hinata to a second-grade school because my husband wants to get rich quick!” Suki huffed, looking down her nose at Sokka. 

“I am not trying to get rich quick, I’m trying to get Hinata into the best school in the Earth Kingdom!” 

“Or get her into the worst one!”

Katara’s blood was really starting to boil like a steaming hot teapot… 

“Honey?” Zuko tried to talk to her but she was already gone.. 

Katara could only hear buzzard wasps ringing in her ears. 

“Well I’ll just make it back with another arm wrestling match, if Aang doesn’t win this one I’ll train him myself!” 

She invited her friends to share her happiness and THIS is how they treat her and her fiance? 

“Sokka, you’re not going to do that! You’re going to cancel the bet with whoever you made it with!” 

“Suki, you’re upset, I get it-” 

“Sokka, cancel the bet, I think I’ve lost all feeling in my arm-”

That was it!

“WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!” Katara screamed so loud that everyone in the restaurant was dead quiet, as if an Earth Kingdom banshee had left their swamp and stormed into the establishment. People didn’t even put the food on their folk into their mouths because they were afraid to move, lest they face Katara's wrath next! 

“ZUKO AND I TRIED TO TELL YOU THIS BEFORE YOU SO  _ RUDELY _ INTERRUPTED US, BUT WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!” Katara yanked her engagement necklace from under her collar. “HE PROPOSED TO ME AND MADE ME THIS LOVELY LOOSE CHAINED ENGAGEMENT NECKLACE SO I COULD WEAR IT AND STILL KEEP THE ONLY THING I HAVE LEFT OF MUM! ISN’T THAT SWEET?!!” 

Some of the other customers were visibly touched by how thoughtful Zuko was, to the point where the Fire Lord scratched the back of his neck and avoided eye contact with everyone out of embarrassment. 

“BUT NOOOOOOOOOO!” Katara glared at her family, who were completely stunned by her outburst. “You guys have to make it all about YOU, because it’s not enough that I took care of almost all of you when we were kids! You have to ignore us on mine and Zuko’s special day too!” 

Oh. That felt good. That felt really good. 

Katara felt like she should yell at her damn kids more often! 

The room seemed to agree as everyone started cheering. People were clapping, whistling, hooting ‘congratulations’ and even popping champagne bottles for the to-be-engaged couple like the war had just ended. There was even an old Fire Nation lady crying tears of joy. 

“I love weddings!” she crooned as she dried her cheeks with a dinner napkin. 

“About darn time, it’s been ages since a royal got married!” The bartender cried. 

“PUBLIC HOLIDAY COMING, WHOOOOOT!” A small teen jeered. 

Taking advantage of all the chaos and a stupefied Toph, Aang won the arm wrestling match in a decisive blow and rushed up from his seat like a giddy child to give both Zuko and Katara a nice, warm hug. Aang’s hugs were nice and Katara would have enjoyed it more if she still wasn’t miffed. 

“Congratulations, I’m so happy for both of you!” Aang, having grown several feet since they were teens, nuzzled the top of Zuko and Katara’s heads with ease like an affectionate polar bear dog. “If it’s okay, can I bless your marriage? I really want to bless your marriage!” 

“Oh my goodness.” Sokka sobbed. “My baby sister and one of my best friends is getting married!” 

The water tribe man hid his face from the group. “I’m not gonna cry. I’m not!” 

Zuko, with his free arm, sympathetically patted Sokka on the shoulder. 

“Congratulations and I am so sorry.” Suki said as she joined the group hug. “We were being so stupid.”    


“Yeah, we didn’t mean to steal your thunder.” Toph said sheepishly. 

“I don’t care about that!” Katara pouted. She tried to hide how glassy her eyes were while burying her face in Aang’s robe. “I wanted to tell Gran Gran and Dad first but now the whole Fire Nation knows.” 

“Aww, it’s not that bad!” Sokka recovered enough to try and comfort his sister. “News in the Fire Nation does not travel that fast, I’m sure Gran Gran and Dad won’t find out before you get to them!”

“HEY AI!” A female customer sitting at the table next to them shouted to a friend wandering outside the restaurant. 

“WHAT IS IT BO?” the lady shouted back to the female customer as if they were conversing to each other on separate mountain tops, rather than a busy and crowded street. The other pedestrians understandably gave the two women dirty looks. 

“DID YOU HEAR THAT THE FIRE LORD IS MARRYING THE PAINTED LADY?” The Fire Nation working class had affectionately dubbed Katara ‘The Painted Lady’ out of respect for saving Jang Hui village and the nickname had spread into common use throughout the country. The people giving the two female friends dirty looks stopped to listen to the hot gossip. 

“NO, I DID NOT!” Ai squealed and started jumping up and down. “I’M SO HAPPY FOR THEM, THE FIRE LORD AND THE PAINTED LADY MAKE SUCH A CUTE COUPLE! MAY AGNI BLESS THEIR MARRIAGE!” 

“I KNOW RIGHT?” Bo screeched back. Soon, the whole street started buzzing at the news, making Sokka want to lie down and take a nap. “AGNI BLESS THEIR MARRIAGE!” 

“... Maybe I should just be quiet for the rest of the day!” Sokka joked, but he knew the damage was done when his sister started crying for real. “I’m sorry Katara, this should have been a great day for you.” 

“And it still can be.” Even though Zuko was still within Aang’s tight grasp, he managed to lean over and kissed Katara’s cheek. Pleased that it had stopped her waterworks, he pressed their foreheads together and looked into her eyes. 

“Gran Gran and Hakoda may not find out about our engagement the way you wanted them to, but it’s okay, we will still get to tell them and I’m sure it will be as nice as when we told Uncle.” Zuko said. “I’ll make tea, we’ll scatter cherry blossoms everywhere, I’ll wear that itchy outfit Gran Gran knitted me… It will be great.” 

Katara felt the rush of bliss when Zuko asked her to marry him all over again and it showed in the way her face just  _ glowed _ . Aang took this as his cue to release the couple from his tender embrace so they could start smooching. The couple were both so content that they didn’t care when their audience shouted: “Yeah!!!”, “Save some for the honeymoon!” and “Young love! That’s what I like to see!” 

“I love you.” Katara told Zuko. “And you’re right. What matters is that we get to celebrate our union with the people we care about.” 

Speaking of which, Katara shyly glanced at her friends: “I’m sorry I yelled at you, that wasn’t cool.” 

“Meh. We were being brats, we deserved it.” Toph admitted. 

“Yeah, and we get that um… We might have just created a political nightmare for you Zuko.” Suki said. Katara winced when she glanced at her future husband, who looked like he was screaming on the inside. 

“It’s okay, I’m marrying the love of my life, that makes it all worth it.” Zuko said, holding back his tears. “But if I come to dinner tomorrow with a limp, it’s because one of my advisers have made an attempt on my life.” 

“I won’t let that happen!” Katara said, grabbing his arm protectively. 

“I know you won’t~” Zuko said, confident in Katara’s combat abilities. ‘The Painted Lady’ nickname not only spread because of Katara’s philanthropy, but because she had shown time and again she was not to be messed with. 

“Well…” Aang said, holding up a red bag of gold coins. “Maybe if we take all of Zuko’s advisors, Gran Gran and Hakoda out to a very nice dinner, all will be well!” 

“Wow, that’s very generous of you Mr. Avatar!” Sokka said. “Look at you flashing the big coin!” 

“Oh it’s not my money Sokka.” Aang smirked. It took Sokka a whole five seconds to figure out where he got the money from. “That older gentleman you made a bet with was actually quite pleasant!” 

Sokka started chittering like a stressed-out bird whose cage had been rattled and made an attempt to steal his hard won money back, but the Avatar took it out from his reach every time thanks to his height. Toph chuckled at the Water Tribe man’s foolish attempts to retrieve his coin purse back before Suki intervened. 

“Please consider this money a wedding gift from me and my husband.” Suki looked into Sokka’s eyes and held his hand. “Right Sokka?” 

“Right.” Sokka sighed, but looked genuinely pleased for both Katara and Zuko. “I hope you both are very happy!” 

“We are.” Katara said, holding her fiance’s hand. “I can’t wait to make him my husband.” 

Aang looked up at Toph and started wiggling his eyebrows at her and then at the couples that were getting lovey dovey. Toph snorted and punched Aang in his upper-bicep, making the Avatar clutch it in pain. It was still quite sensitive from the arm-wrestling match! 

“In your dreams, Twinkle Toes!” Toph rolled her eyes. “I don’t date cheaters.” 

“Hey, I won fair and square!” Aang said, getting up on his tippy toes to look Toph right in the eye.

“Oh yeah?” Toph smirked, getting all up in Aang’s personal space. “Wanna make it best out of three?” 

“NO MORE ARM WRESTLING MATCHES!” Katara shouted. “BAD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU ARM WRESTLE!”

“Do they?” Zuko asked. “I think I handled our first crisis as an engaged couple pretty well.” 

Katara glared at her smug fiance. “I’m only letting you have this because you actually did make me feel better.” 

“Get used to it, I’m going to be your husband~” Zuko smirked. “Supporting you and tending to your emotional needs is what I will be doing.” 

Suki sidled up to Katara: “He still flirts with you like this?” 

“Yes and I know it’s weird, but he’s my weirdo, so it’s fine.”

Okay, so announcing their engagement hadn’t gone like Katara had hoped, but it would be fine. They still had the rest of the wedding to enjoy. 

Yes, it would all be fine.


End file.
